Rap-proof padlock



April 1942. R. c. NELSON 2,281,088

RAP -PROOF PADLOCK Filed June 28, 1940 Patented Apr. 28, 1942 RAP-PROOF PADLOCK Robert C. Nelson, Berlin, Conn., assignor to Eagle Look Company, Terryville, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 28, 1940, Serial No. 343,028

7 Claims. (Cl. 70-38) Thepresent invention relates to padlocks and has*for its partioular purpose the-provision of a padlockwherein the. locking means cannot be reIeased by rapping or tapping the look body.

Another purpose is to provide a padlock which may be moved with great faoi1ity and wherein thezpadlock body is 50 formed that the shaokle and looking means thereof may be readiiy inserted therein.

Other objeots will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly oonsists in thefeaturcs of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemp1ifiedin the construction hereafter setforth* and the scope of the application of which W111 be indioatd in the appended claims.

In the acoompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation with the body portien et the look shown in seotionand the shackle and locking means shown in full lino;

Fig. 2 is a perspective viewof a portion of the locking means Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view partiy in section showing the mounting of the iooking pawl;

Fig. 4 is an end view of Fig. 1 as seen from the bottom of the look; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary seotiona1 view of a look showing a modified form of looking means.

Referring to the drawing, the look includes generaliy a casing A, a shackle B, and locking insert C adapted for preassembiy and insertable within the casing as a unit. More specificaily, theoasingA comprisesa one-piece look body li), of any suitable metal and of any desirable shape; that 'shown having a raindrop cross section when viewed in plan, this shape not only adding to the appearance of the device, but reduoing the metal required to a minimum without any sacrifice in strength.

For convenience in manufacture and assembly the body has dri11ed therein a vertical bore l2 opening from the top and extending part way through the body and a second vertical bore l4 extending throughout the body; the bores 12 and Mbeing spaoed to respeotiveiy receive the short andlong legs l6 and I8 of the shackle B. Intermediate of the bores l2 anditthe body has dri]1ed therein athi1d vertical bore 26 open from the bottom of the body and terminating at its upper end in a conioal endwall 265 the bore 20 being so centered relative to the bore l2 that the two intersect adjacent the top of the body l0.

Thebore 20 is drilled to provide a lower portion n 22 cf greater diameter than the bore propr, and

extendingupwardly from the portion 22 there are out diametrically opposite vertical slots 23 in the wall of the bore. Intermediate of theslots 23 there is further out a circumferential slot 25 opening into the portion 22.

The bore 20 is formed in the manner described to receive and position the locking insert C, which insert comprises a plug 32 of substantially the same diameter as the bore 23 and terminating at its iower and in a radial flange 34 receivable within the enlarged portion 22 of the bore for properly positioning the plug therein. As is commonin this type of look, the p1ug 32 isprovided with a plurality cf lccking tumblers 33 adapted to be spring pressed into the slot 23 of the bore to hold the plugagainst rotation unti1 a proper key is aligned within the plus. When a proper key is so a1igned, the tumblers wiil be withdrawnwithinthe plug, thus permittingrotaton thoraof. In order to limt the rotation of the p1ug; there is further providedimmediateiy above the flange 34 astop- 35 whioh;- when the parts are assembled; is rotated within the slot 25' of thebore. It is understood; of course, that any type of oylinder look may be utilizedin place of that shown, and as the locking insert C 15 of--well known construction; no further description of the details thereof is necessary for an -nnderstanding of the invention herein.

In the present disclosure, however, the p1ug 32' oarries a pair of vertioally extending,paraliei spaced ears 36 supporting a pivot pin 38 carry ing a 1ocking pawl or keeper Mi; As indioatedy the pawl iflis provided'with a locking hook 42 having a fiat downwardly faoing shoulder 43 adapted to engage With a fiat upwardly facing shoulder 45 of a notch 4 1 provided in the short 1eg16 of the shackle to secure same in locked position; this looking engagement being obtained by rotation et the plug 32 about its vertical axis, whereupon the 1ocking pawl Wi11 be rotated Simultaneousiy therewith.

In accordance with the present invention, the pawl 4'is not only rotatable With the plug 32, but is also free to pivot and move verticai1y relative thereto to allow automatic locking engagement when the pawl lies in the path of the shaokle leg. To accompiish this, there is out in the pawl a pivot pin receiving aperture 46 of langer diameter than that of the pivot pin 38, thus providing a 10059 and non-contacting fit between the pawi andthe pin.

To normally restrain the pawl' 41! againstrpiw oting and vertical movement; it is provided:with

the bottom of the casing.

a curved upper edge 48 adapted to make a two point contact With the conical end 26 of the bore 213, and to hold it in such two point engagement there is arranged betvveen the lower fiat edge 50 of the pawl and the top 52 of the plug a spring 54 which normally urges the pawl upwardly. The spring 54 is shown as being of U type having one leg 58 abutting the top of the plug and the other leg 58 engaged against the lower edge of the pawl, whereby the normal tendency of the spring to expand will maintain the pawl in its uppermost position with its upper edge 48 abutting the conical end 26, thus maintaining the pawl in a substantially fixed position relative to the plug and preventing wobbling thereof. However, with the pawl so mounted, when the shackle is moved to closed position the lower end oi the leg l6 will abut against the cam edge 60 of the pawl hook 42, urging the pawl downwardly out of engagement With the wall 26 and pivoting it about the pin 33. This vertical and pivotal movement allows the lower end of the leg l6 to pass byond same until the notch 44 is aligned with the hook 42, whereupon the spring 54 wil1 function to raise and pivot the pawl into 10Cking engagement. It will also be noted that when the pawl is again raised to Iocking position t is spring pressed and held in its substantially fixed position With the top edge 48 in engagement with the conical end wall 26, and rapping or tapping of the look body will not jar the pawl out of looking engagement.

A further advantage of the construction above described is that the locking means C, including the cylinder look and the pawl, may be manufactured as a unit and thereaftr inserted within the bore 20 and secured therein by peaning over a circumferentialflange 52 provided at the bottom of th bore.

As is usual in padlocks, movement of the shackle is accomplished by slidably and rotat.bly mounting the long leg 18 in the casing. In the embodiment illustrated, this is done by providing the lower end of the leg IB With a circumferential groove 64 for receiving an expanding retainer 66. This retainer may be mounted by inserting the long leg' i8 of the shacklo into the bore 14 until the lower end thereof extends through the bottom of the casing and then placing the retainer thereon. Thereafter there is 1 ositioned beneath the end of the leg a compression sprihg 68 held in position by a centrally arranged plug 10 terminating in its lower end in an enlarged flange 72 which also forms the closure for The fiange and shackle are retained in place by peaning over a circumferential fiange 14 provided on the casing at the lower end of the bore !4. To limit the upwrd movement of the shackle, the lower end of the bore l4 is enlarged t approximately the diameterof the shackle retainer 56 to provide a downwardly facing shoulder l against which the retainer will abut when the shackle is urged to unlocked position.

In the present lock, the spring 68, in addition to n'ormally urging the shackle Outwardly, will, when the members are in locked position, also place the lockihg paw1 40 under substantial upward pressure and further assist in preventing any releasing of the pawl by rapping on the lock bod; Moreover, as the lockihg pawl is held against the conical end wa1l 25 of the bore, the force placed thereon by the spring 68 and the spring 54 is transferred directly to the casing and no strain is placed on the locking means, thus extending upwardly from the locking pawl 84;

adding greatly to the strength of the structure and adding to the life of the locking means as it is not subjected to any jars upon the upward motion of the shackle following a closure thereof.

There is shown in Fig. 5 another embodiment of the present invention, and therein 1ike parts to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 t0 4 have been correspondingly numbered. In this embodiment, the bore 20 terminates at its upper end in a recess to provide a seat for an abutment 82 these parts interengaging to normally prevent pivotal movement of the paw1 about the horizontal pivot pin 38. The mounting of the pawl is similar to that of the prevous embodiment, and the spring 54 normally urges the pawl into a position whereby the abutment 82 is seated in the recess 80. The pawl 84 is further shaped to provide a hook 86 having a downwardly depending finger 88, which finger is receivable within a recess 90 provided at the lower end of a notch 92 in the short leg l6 of the shackle B; this arrangement providing au intergripping therebe tween Which further adds t0 thesecurity of the look.

As in the prior embodiment, when it is desired to close the shackle With the bolt 84 in its normal locking or latohing position, the lower end of the shackle leg l6 will engage against the forward cam surface 94 of the bolt 84, forcing same downwardly against the tension of the spring 54 to release the abutment 82 from the recess B, whereupon the paw] may then pivot about the pivot pin 38. Upon clearing the finger 88 of the pawl, the spring 54 will again urge the pawl into locking or latching position.

As many changes could' be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof,

it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a padlock, a body having spaced bores open from one end, a shackle mounted in said bores, said body having a bore intermediate of said spaced bores and open from the other end, and a locking insert within said bore including a locking pawl mounted for vertical, pivotal, and rotatable movement.

2. In a padlock, a body having sDaced bores open from one end, a shackle mounted in said bores, said body having a bore intermediate of said spaced bores and open from the other end and terminating in a conical end Wall, a looking insert Within said lastnamed bore including a locking pawl, the upper edge of said pawl being curved to engage the conical end wall of said bore, means mounting said pavv1 for vertical, pivotal, and rotatable movement, and spring mearis normally urging the upper edge of said pawl into contact with the conical end to main tain said pawl in substantially fixed position.

3. In a padlock, a body having spaJced bores open from one end, a shackle mounted in said bores, said body having a bore intermediate of said spaced bores and open from the other end,

a rotatable locking insert within said bore, and a locking pawl mounted on said insert for pivotal and vertical movement relative to said insert.

4. In a padlock, a body having spaced bores open from one and, a shackle mounted in said bores, said body having a bore intermedate of said spaced bores and open from the other end, rotatable locking means within said bore, a lock ing pawl mounted on the upper end of said looking means for pivotal and vertical movement relative to said means, and spring means for normally urgmg said pawl into engagement with the end wall of the bore for holding said pawl in substantially fixed position.

5. In a padlock, a body having} a shackle mounted therein, and locking means for securing said shackle including a pawl, means rotatably supporting said pawl and upon which said pawl is mounted for lmited, pivotal and vertical movement and means normally holding said pawl against pivotal and vertical movement.

6. In a padlock, a body having a shackle mounted therein, locking means for securing said shackle ncluding a pawl, means rotatably supporting said pawl and upon which said pawl is mounted for limited pivotal and vertical movement, cooperating means on said pawl and on said body for restraining said pawl against pivotal movement, and means for normally urging said pawl vertically relative to said supporting means and into engagement with said cooperating means.

7. In a padlock, a body having spaced bores open from one end, a shackle mounted in said bores, said body having a bore intermediate of said spaced bores and open from the other and and provded at its closed and With a recess, a locking insert within said last-named bore including a locking pawl having an abutment extending upwardly from the upper edge thereof, means mounting said pawl for vertical, pivotal, and rotatable movement, and spring means normally urging said pawl to position the abutment within said recess to maintain said pawl in substantially fixed position.

ROBERT C. NELSON. 

